Somebody has to lift this - every single time

What is portable ramp setup?

A portable ramp is a lightweight aluminium ramp - folding in half like a suitcase, telescoping to length, or a pair of separate channels - that is carried to where it is needed, placed, used and taken away again. It exists for occasional obstacles: a friend's doorstep, a kerb, a van, an appointment. Its real limit is not the load rating on the box but the person who has to handle it, and that is the question the product listings never ask.

Signs you need portable ramp setup

• Visits to relatives or friends who have one or two steps at their door
• A vehicle that needs loading, and a chair or scooter that has to get up into it
• Appointments and buildings where you cannot count on the entrance being level
• A single step at a back door that is used occasionally rather than daily
• Travel where the accessibility of the destination is unknown until you arrive
• A short-term arrangement while a permanent ramp is being designed or built
• A house being viewed or trialled before the household commits to modifications

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How portable ramp setup actually works

1. 1

   Start with who lifts it, not with the ramp

   Establish honestly who will carry, place and stow it, how often, and what else they will be managing at the same time. A ramp handled twice per outing by someone who is themselves older, or who is also managing a chair and a passenger, is a different problem from one lifted occasionally by a younger adult.

   Watch forA weight quoted without context. Awkwardness matters as much as kilograms - a long, unbalanced ramp is harder to manage than a heavier compact one.

2. 2

   Choose the type against the actual obstacle

   Single-fold and multi-fold ramps carry like a case and give a continuous surface. Telescoping ramps adjust in length and are usually the compact option for vehicles. Track ramps are two separate channels, lighter individually, but they require lining each wheel up correctly every time.

   Watch forTrack ramps chosen for weight alone. Aligning two channels with a wheelchair in the rain, in the dark, is much harder than the showroom suggests.

3. 3

   Get the length right for the rise, not for the boot of the car

   The rise dictates how long the ramp has to be to give a manageable slope, exactly as it does with a built ramp. A ramp chosen because it fits in the car and then used on a rise it is too short for is the single most common misuse of this product.

   Watch forBuying short. A portable ramp used at too steep an angle is genuinely dangerous, and the temptation to do it grows on the day nobody has energy left.

4. 4

   Check the width, the load rating and the chair together

   The ramp has to take the combined weight of the chair, the occupant and anything being carried, and it has to be wide enough for the chair with hands on the rims. Powered chairs and scooters are considerably heavier than manual chairs, and the difference matters.

   Watch forA rating that only counts the person. Powered chairs and their batteries are heavy, and the total is what the ramp has to carry.

5. 5

   Secure both ends before anyone uses it

   Portable ramps have lips or retaining hooks at the top and rely on a firm, level footing at the bottom. Both ends need to be checked on every use, because the ground and the step are different everywhere you go.

   Watch forA bottom end sitting on gravel, wet grass or a sloping kerb. The ramp slides, and it slides at the moment the load is on it.

6. 6

   Practise before you rely on it

   Do a full rehearsal at home - unfold, place, secure, ascend, descend, stow - with the real chair and the real people. Then do it again in the wet. This is where you discover whether the plan is realistic or merely purchased.

   Watch forThe first real use being a genuinely difficult one, on somebody else's steps, in poor light, with people waiting.

What does portable ramp setup cost?

Portable ramps are stock products, not projects: cheaper than any constructed ramp and priced mainly by length, width and load rating. Buying one that is too short for the rise is the expensive mistake, because it either gets replaced or gets used at an unsafe angle. The Cost Guide covers current ranges.

See the full portable ramp setup cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →